Abstract
Load-dependent friction hysteresis is an intriguing phenomenon that occurs in many materials, where the friction measured during unloading is larger than that measured during loading for a given normal load. However, the mechanism underlying this behavior is still not well understood. In this work, temperature-controlled friction force microscopy was utilized to explore the origin of friction hysteresis on exfoliated monolayer graphene. The experimental observations show that environmental adsorbates from ambient air play an important role in the load dependence of friction. Specifically, the existence of environmental adsorbates between the tip and graphene surface gives rise to an enhanced tip-graphene adhesion force, which leads to a positive friction hysteresis where the friction force is larger during unloading than during loading. In contrast to positive friction hysteresis, a negative friction hysteresis where the friction force is smaller during unloading than during loading is observed through the removal of the environmental adsorbates upon in situ annealing. It is proposed that the measured friction hysteresis originates from the hysteresis in the contact area caused by environmental adsorbates between the tip and graphene. These findings provide a revised understanding of the friction hysteresis in monolayer graphene in terms of environmental adsorbates.
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Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the Grant for Taishan Scholar Advantage Characteristic Discipline of Shandong Province, the Start-up Grant for QiLu Young Scholars of Shandong University, the Danish National Research Foundation, the AUFF NOVA-project, the Danish National Research Foundation, AUFF NOVA-project, and EU H2020 RISE (MNR4SCell 734174 project).
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Deliang ZHANG. He received his bachelor degree in material chemistry in 2016 from Shandong University of Science and Technology, Shandong, China. Then, he received his master degree in material engineering in 2018 from Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China. Now, he is a Ph.D. student in Shandong University. Currently, he focuses on the exploration of the nanoscale frictional properties of two-dimensional materials.
Qiang LI. He received his Ph.D. degree from Aarhus University, Denmark in 2014. After postdoctoral work at the Bio-SPM group, Aarhus University, he joined Shandong University as a professor in 2016. His current research focuses on the development of advanced atomic force microscopy for probing the physical and chemical properties of new functional materials at the nanoscale.
Mingdong DONG. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in applied physics from Aarhus University, Denmark in 2006. After postdoctoral research (Harvard University, USA), he started his independent academic career as assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor at Aarhus University. His research interests focus on both the implementation and further development of a novel scanning probe microscope technique to study molecular self-assembly for biological applications and new functional materials.
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Zhang, D., Zhang, Y., Li, Q. et al. Origin of friction hysteresis on monolayer graphene. Friction 10, 573–582 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-021-0517-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-021-0517-1